#8 - John Van Den Nieuwenhuizen - Are Sustainable, Closed Loop Design Systems Possible?

Episode 8: Show Notes.

Today on the Circulist Quest, we are very lucky to welcome a leading industrial designer and expert in the world of innovative design! John Van Den Nieuwenhuizen has worked for a number of inspiring companies and successfully managed to springboard his career into a path as a visionary and entrepreneur, working on his own projects. In our conversation, we get to hear from John about his days after university, moving to Italy and then subsequently the US, and how he exited his day-job to focus on starting Hidden Radio, an innovative Bluetooth product company. From there, we look at John's recent work in the food and kitchen sector, and how his company, Typhur, is aiming to revolutionize the way we approach everyday cooking. There is a common thread of lifestyle products that has run through a lot of John's work and he talks about how his passion for improving everyday home life has kept him motivated. So to hear all about this journey, some thoughts on the future, and why a more circular economy is so important for us all, be sure to listen in!

Key Points From This Episode:

• John's decision to leave Australia and work abroad after graduating. 
• Memories of working in Europe before moving to the US. 
• Reflections on the approach to design and innovation at Motorola. 
• The position that John took up in Chicago before moving to the west coast to work for HP. 
• John's experiences of escaping the cubicle, and the moment he dived into his own project.  
• The bootstrapping process of bringing a product to market while planning for the long-term. 
• John's passion for and attraction to working on projects related to everyday living.  
• Thoughts on the way that design and manufacturing are currently affecting the world. 
• The future of design and conceptualizing a better tomorrow.  
• Reshaping the design and engineering sector for shared benefits.
• Final thoughts from John about moving into a more circular future.

Quotable Quotes

“I think it's just a very different time right now, it's crazy the speed at which commerce moves, and the web moves.” — John Van Den Nieuwenhuizen [0:02:58]

“It was always bootstrapped. We eventually took a tiny bit of investment which was in the form of a line of credit, that was much later.” — John Van Den Nieuwenhuizen [0:18:53]

“Hardware is a money-hungry game.” — John Van Den Nieuwenhuizen [0:19:44]

“I think a big part is passion. I like to work on things I love.” — John Van Den Nieuwenhuizen [0:21:38]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

John Van Den Nieuwenhuizen on LinkedIn

Typhur
Hidden Radio
Motorola
Sonos
Circulist

Host Nick Gonios
Producer Jim Lounsbury